For various aesthetic reasons, many individuals wish to possess elongated fingernails or fingernails having a more finished or polished appearance. However, some are unable or unwilling to grow their own natural fingernails out to the desired length. Alternately, they may not have the time, skill, or financial wherewithal to maintain or obtain a more finished appearance that may result from well manicured and/or polished nails. As a result, entire industries have developed around the artificial supplementation and enhancement of natural nails. Such enhancements may range from manicuring and polishing of natural fingernails to individually building artificial nails on the natural nail and nail form from an acrylic powder and liquid which chemically bond to the nail surface as the artificial nail is built. Between these two extremes, are preformed, artificial nails that are glued or otherwise bonded to a person's own naturally occurring fingernails. Such nails are readily available to a wide range of users through drug and department stores. Such preformed artificial nails may be clear or opaque, and/or prepolished and/or decorated to provide the desired appearance.
Artificial nails are commonly made from molded thermoplastic and are available in a wide range of lengths and styles. One broad category of an artificial nail style is the full nail form. As its name implies, the full nail form simulates the entire human fingernail and includes a proximate edge intended to overlay substantially the entire nail bed and a distal free edge which is intended to extend beyond the fingertip of the wearer. The proximate edge is shaped to be disposed substantially adjacent or abut against the cuticle of the finger. The distal free edge may have any of various lengths and shapes, such as oval, square, or flared, depending upon the desired look. Preferably, the artificial nail is sufficiently durable and rigid to withstand the hazards inherent in its use.
In contrast, nail tips do not simulate the complete nail, but, rather, only the free edge and, typically, a small extended portion to cover only a portion of the nail bed in order to facilitate attachment to the nail. In use, nail tips are secured to the edge of the nail bed adjacent the free edge and the tip only. Tips are often utilized with the construction of acrylic nails or gel nails.
Manufacturers typically provide users with a range of nail sizes, e.g., identified by size numbers 0-9, to accommodate most nail sizes. Generally, artificial nails are packaged together in sets including a range of different sizes so that the purchaser receives differently artificial nails for their different fingers. In addition to the set of different sized artificial nails, the package may also include liquid adhesive, peel-off adhesive pads, and/or preplaced tacky adhesive for bonding the artificial nails to the purchaser's natural fingernails.
Artificial nails are provided in a variety of lengths ranging from relatively long nails having either a straight profile or arched profile, to relatively short nails, which more closely simulate well groomed natural nails. In placement of the artificial nail on a user's natural nail, the adhesive is typically applied either directly to the user's natural nail bed or to the nail bed portion of the artificial nail. The artificial nail is then placed on the user's natural nail bed with the proximal end of the artificial nail disposed at or near the user's cuticle, and pressure is applied to ensure the desired adhesion of the artificial nail to the user's natural nail. Inasmuch as the adhesive used in placing artificial nails is generally tacky, it is difficult to make adjustments to the position of the artificial nail on the natural nail once initial placement is made. Attempts to reposition the artificial nail relative to the natural nail or to remove and replace the artificial nail may result in either a substandard appearance to the artificial nail, or time consuming additional cleaning of the artificial nail and repetition of the placement process. As a result, it is important that the artificial nail be placed at the desired position on the natural nail at the first attempt so as to avoid the need to remove and reposition the nail.
Longer artificial nails typically extend well beyond the free edge of the user's natural nails. Consequently, in placing relatively long artificial nails on the user's natural nails, one may generally utilize the extended free edge of the artificial nail to hold the artificial nail prior to placement, and to manipulate and accurately position the artificial nail on the user's nail bed. When utilizing smaller artificial nails, however, the free edge is very short, and does not extend far beyond the user's natural nail or finger tip, if at all. Accordingly, such short nails can be particularly difficult to accurately place on the user's natural nail by simply grasping the artificial nail using one's fingers.
As a result, manufacturers have proposed various tools to allow for holding and placing artificial nails during application. One such tool is comprises an elongated rod with a tacky adhesive pad or tape at the end of the tool to grip the artificial nail, such as the tools shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,250 to Park and the tool marketed by Sally Hansen®. This tacky, adhesive pad, however, has proven unreliable in use, however, inasmuch as the retaining force exerted by the adhesive on the artificial nail typically deteriorates over time such that it does not exert a consistent retaining force on the artificial nail. Moreover, should the adhesive pad become contaminated with dust or the like, it becomes generally useless in that it does not exhibit adequate force to retain a series of nails for placement.
Another such tool is shaped like a concave shovel with a shorter opposing lip that is disposed parallel to the shovel such that a small slot or gap is formed between the inside surface of the shovel and the lip, as shown in U.S. Pat. D441,134 to Manzione and marketed by Uptown Nails, LLC. In use, the outer, arched surface of the artificial nail is disposed against the inside surface of the shovel with the free edge of the artificial nail disposed in the gap between the lip and the shovel. This tool likewise exhibits deficiencies. While the “shovel” tool does not deteriorate with use, it is cumbersome to utilize. Should the gap between the shovel and lip be sufficiently small to exert a retaining force on the artificial nail, the user will typically be required to exert an external downward, retaining force on the artificial nail when it is placed against the natural nail in order to facilitate release of the artificial nail by the tool. Inasmuch as the user's free hand grasps the tool, the user must typically use a different finger from the placement hand to exert a retaining force the placed artificial nail to facilitate release of artificial nail from the tool. Conversely, if the tool does not exert adequate retaining force to hold the artificial nail during the placement process, the tool may allow artificial nail to move within the gap, making accurate placement of the artificial nail against the natural nail significantly more difficult.
The assignee of the present invention has proposed a tool that utilizes a small suction cup disposed at the distal end of an elongated rod. In applying an artificial nail to a natural nail, the user places the suction cup on the upper surface of the artificial nail and expels any air trapped between the cup and the nail. The user then utilizes the tool to position the artificial nail on the natural nail. The suction cup provides sufficient force to retain the nail during placement, yet that force is overcome by the tackiness of the adhesive or the adhesive bond between the artificial nail and the natural nail once properly placed. The tool is disclosed in greater detail in PCT Publication WO06/062963A.
Manufacturers have likewise proposed severable protrusions that extend from one or more edges of the artificial nail themselves. The protrusions are utilized to place the artificial nail and then severed from the nail once proper placement has been achieved. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,736 to Chinn et al. includes a tab that extends from the distal edge of the nail. Unfortunately, however, the Chinn tab is not ergonomic, and is difficult and cumbersome to use. As may be seen in FIG. 11, the Chinn tab 13 must typically be held between a finger 14 and the thumb 15 of the applying hand 16, the thumb 15 being disposed either below or above the plane of the artificial nail 17. Accordingly, the user's hand 16 is in an awkward position relative to the receiving finger. As a result, typically, either a separate finger from the receiving hand must be used to securely seat the artificial nail 17 in position on the natural nail during severing of the nail tab 13, or the user must hold the artificial nail 17 in position until such time as the adhesive fully cures. Similar difficulties are encountered in placing the nails disclosed in other references, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,595 to Aylott, for example.
As a result, it is desirable to provide a nail placement arrangement that overcomes these shortcomings of the prior art to provide for accurate and reliable, repeatable placement of artificial nails.